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To my knowledge there are interesting quantum-mechanical effects at play as well though. There's a lot of esoterical nonsense around that of course, however first discoveries pointing into this direction are quite promising.
I always remember a quote from Alan Watts talking about this topic: "You are the universe experiencing itself". The idea of consciousness being an emerging property of the universe itself makes most sense to me, and the non-deterministic properties of quantum mechanics open this possibility.
Definitely more inspiring to think about it this way than just as a lump of fat.
I can only hope that when this flesh dies, that my consciousness returns to the cosmos and persists free from the limitations of the body.
If it is an emerging property then the sense of "self" is most likely bound to this "lump of fat"; more precisely its inability to have connections to someone else except through physical barriers. the most interesting aspect of this is probably what siamese twins once described who were connected at their head. They said that they could "hear the other one's thoughts".
if we could share our minds with one another it would most likely completely change our understanding of consciousness. Likewise, if something can survive the death of the body (the "emerging property" part) then most likely not as an individual given that part is more of a property of our brains.
It's self-evident why esoterical stuff got hooked on these things. The idea of closure on one of the most central religious questions is really appealing.
All I know is that if it all ends at death, then I should never have been born.
That would be preferable to my current existence though I think I still might prefer non-existance in the long term.
Don't sell yourself so short
Gnosticism, one of the oldest known religions that is thought to be the forefather of all religion, taught about that.
maybe but he's a skinny guy